King claimed he had seen Blind Lemon Jefferson play in Forest City, Arkansas, when he could not have been more than six years old, since Jefferson died in 1929. He cited Jefferson and T-Bone Walker, who learned directly from Jefferson, as his major influences. King moved to Gary, Indiana, in 1950, and for a short time played his other instrument, drums, behind bluesman Jimmy Reed .
In 1953 he sang and played guitar on his first solo recordings, “Bad Luck Blues...